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From racist abuse to diving, Suarez feels the heat

Associated Press
Published: October 17, 2012

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LONDON (AP) — Luis Suarez is finding out just how hard it is to rehabilitate a damaged reputation.

Arriving at Liverpool with the tag 'Cannibal of Ajax' after a biting incident in the Netherlands and vilified for being sent off in a World Cup quarterfinal for a cynical handball on the goal line, he's proved to be a magnet for controversy in England.

Tuesday marked exactly a year since the Uruguay striker re-opened race tensions in the English game by abusing Manchester United's Patrice Evra.

Now Suarez is at the center of fresh controversy, being attacked as the chief culprit in a wave of diving and simulation that has crept into the Premier League.

The Evra controversy rumbled on for months, with Liverpool's antagonistic response to the sanctions, and Suarez's refusal to shake hands in the rematch, causing as much damage as the original confrontation.

Liverpool's attempt to draw a line under a dispute at the beginning of this season had seemed to be working.

"I shut up and I forget it," Suarez said in August. "I want to leave it now."

A goal spree to become Liverpool's leading scorer this season was helping.

But then the spotlight turned to just how he was trying to score those goals, with accusations from opponents and the sport's authorities that he was a serial diver, using simulation to try and win penalties and free kicks.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has complained that Suarez's reputation means he is being denied legitimate penalties, but a wave of football figures have piled in to condemn Suarez.

Stoke manager Tony Pulis branded him an "embarrassment", saying Suarez should be banned for three matches for theatrically going down too easily in the penalty area during a 0-0 draw at Anfield earlier this month.

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny used an interview with French daily L'Equipe to express his hatred of playing against Suarez because of his "cheating."